If you are fishing in a hole (assuming some measure of a crowd) and you have a hookup and move off to fight/land your fish should you assume you should have your "old" spot back?

I don't fish busy pools much but sometimes it may become unavoidable. Usually if I hook up a few times in a crowded productive spot I will move on. I think you should expect your "old" spot back but encourage some rotation of spots. Do you agree?

I think if you take your fish out of the crowd to fisht it so the others can fish you should get your spot back. In fact I would go back and muscle in. How could they ever give you a hard time being that you just gave them a few minutes to fish.

I have not encountered a situation where I was pushed out. In fact, in the spirit of combat fishing, If the guy next to me hooks up and takes his fish away from the masses, I will help to fill in his spot to save it for him.

I think it's pretty rare to get schwanked, generally the guys locked up in a hole are very cool about it. I would venture to guess you'd even get support from the guys across creek if some yo-yo moved in ou your spot.

Posted on: 2008/10/27 18:58

_________________Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the bridge will be there and it will be there. It's a mother, beautiful bridge, and it's gonna be there. Ok?

I agree that you should expect to be let back in and you should give that courtesy to your fellow anglers should they move off to fight a fish.

One caveat though, if you are one of those yahoos who thinks you need 6X tippet and you let the fish run 200 yards during the course of a 15 minute battle I might give you a bit of a hard time. The above rant assumes combat conditions with fish biting. I can see where someone might be forced to lighter tippets and longer battles with the low clear conditions we have had lately, but that is tolerable when no one is catching any.

Posted on: 2008/10/27 20:04

_________________Only one constant in the universe, all men are equal in the eyes of the fish. -GulfGreyhound paraphrasing Herbert Hoover

It only has to happen once the that they don;t let me back in or I fight every fish from then on right there in the hole...Hey, I let 2 kids come in an ruin my hole where I had just caught 2 in 15 minutes. I was hoping one of them would hook into one. Thought that would be interesting at the least to watch. But they walked right thru it an scattered the fish and ruined the only moving water in the creek. So I'm pretty willing to accommodate others. I just expect the same courtesy in return.

thats the one thing i hate about fishing erie steelhead, was there two weeks ago and was helping a friend new to using a fly rod how to cast with split shot on, there was about twenty yrds betwwen us and some ding dong steps between us and trys to cast , there was open water above us and below us, but i know thats how fishing erie can be....and yes you should get your spot back after landing a fish

Posted on: 2008/10/27 22:55

_________________
just when i think i have the key to success, someone changes the lock

I liken it to poker...everybody knows why the other guy is there and respects their right to be there but nobody is gonna tip their hand...or give up their chair for fear they may lose a shot at the pot.

As long as you go in with that mind frame, you won't be disappointed with the crowds...or their behavior. Save a few idiots that try to sneak a peak at your hand....if you get my drift. (no pun intended)

If you don't like poker...take a walk to the Black Jack tables.

Posted on: 2008/10/28 10:39

_________________Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the bridge will be there and it will be there. It's a mother, beautiful bridge, and it's gonna be there. Ok?

I think you should have your spot back as common courtesy...However common courtesy isn't something everyone possesses. When my wife fished with me and someone moved in to what she considered too close, she would put on her "I'm a girl and don't know how to fish" routine putting her casts over the other guys line a couple times in a row. That never failed. The only time I was OK with someone "stealing" my spot was just recently when a guy was walking upstream as I was chasing a fish downstream. He offered to net it for me. I declined. He went to my spot, but he hadn't seen where I had come from (it was 2 pools up from where he passed me)...although it would have been obvious had he thought about it. I was happy to "give" him the spot since he was courteous and didn't realize he was spot stealing.While it pisses me off, I am just as content walking elsewhere when it happens...I usually fine better fishing by doing so and find better company (although, I haven't completely resisted stating my mind as I pass by).

Never been to erie, but if it's anything like the Salmon River, I'd imagine you get your spot back. I tend to leave a piece of gear or something at the bank in my spot anyway, just so I feel like I'm keeping an anchor in my spot in a way. Usually something cheap, or a bag of chex mix and a bottle of water is enough to deter some people from arguing with you when you return.

After chasing Steel in Erie for 10+ years, what I've learned is that there are lots of things that *SHOULD* happen, but don't. Lots of anglers don't even have a concept of stream ettiquite that fish the Erie Tribs. Short list: guys taking other guys spots, fishing over top of others lines, picking up trash, etc. Stream testosterone is another thing I despise about it. Like most of you, I work hard through the week and want to relax when I'm on the water, and I just can't seem to find much of that in Erie anymore...kind of like solitude. Now I have had some great experiences there and met some awesome people. One of the best days I had was when I hooked up with a PSU student who was also frustrated by crowds. We hiked several miles upstream and I learned lots about fly fishing for steelies that day from him. That was a great day on the water.

Give me open water on a trout stream and I'm happy these days. All of these amount to why 1-2 trips a year for me are all I can handle at most. To each their own I suppose.

I am still in the early stages of fascination with the experience. My focus on getting better at this type of fishing blots out the negatives being highlighted by some. I suppose once I am convinced I know what I am doing, I will begin to notice the other anglers more and may begin to limit my trips because of it. Right now, though, I am not looking forward to doing less steelheading at Erie.

Posted on: 2008/10/28 11:29

_________________The doctrine of free will is the invention of the ruling class.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to come off as an eliteist, Erie provided me a lot of fun for a lot of years. And, on occasion I still enjoy it. Reading your post Jack made me think of my first trip there and the years of making the journey 79 N to Erie. What a rush! There were times that I was so excited to go, I could hardly sleep the night before. It's a great experience and if you have the ability to go and do it, by all means, you should. Fly fishing for steel is the biggest rush of all. There's nothing like fighting fresh steel on a fly rod! I have not completely written it off all together. At the end of the day, all that really matters is that you enjoyed yourself on the stream.

On another note of chasing Steel...I was in a fly shop a few weeks back and was told that the NY tribs are becoming more and more crowded as well. Back when I was going regularly, this was the "go to" place to find solitude. Apparently that's caught on with some others too. Have you guys fished any of the WNY Tribs?